Burial casket



June 2, 1931. s. H. WILLIAMS ET Al. 1,807,610

BURIAL GASKET Filed June e. 1927 Wihes" 50M/ Patented June 2, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT orner:

SAMUEL H. WILLAMS AND JOSEPH HENRYpWILLIAMS, OF NORTH KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI BURIAL GASKET Appli-cation filed .Tune 6, 1927.

Our invention relates to burial caslrets and one object is to provide a reinforced glass casket which can be hermetically sealed for the exclusion of moisture and water.

Other objects will hereinafter appear, and in order that said invention may be fully understood reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in section of the casket.

Fig. 2 is a. plan View of the casket. n

Fig. 3 is an enlarged broken section of an upper portion of the casket.

Referring in detail to the different parts,

2 designates the hollow body of the casket which is preferably cast in one piece and strengthened by suitable reinforcing material such as wire cloth 4. The upper portion of the hollow body 2 is further rein* forced by a surrounding molding-6 and has a continuous oifset 8 of rightangular configuration in cross section in its upper margin. The lower horizontal face of the offset 8 is provided with continuous ribs 10 while the vertical face of said offset has a contlnuous channel 12.

The sides of the hollow body 2 are provided with dove-tail grooves 14 for the reception of cleats 16 to which handles 18 are secured. Cloth or wood veneering, not shown, may be used for covering the hollow body 2 when desired by securing it to the cleats 18.

20 designates the lid of the casket, which,

like the latter, is preferably made of glass and strengthened by a suitable reinforcement such as wire cloth 22. The lid 20 is provided at its underside with continuous grooves 24 for the reception of the continuous ribs 10, said grooves 24 being enough larger than the ribs for the admission of cement or other suitable sealing compound 26. The vertical margin of the lid 20 has a surrounding channel 28 which is similar in size to y the channel 12 with which it is adapted to register when the lid is placed in the offset 8.

30 designates an opening in the lid near the head of the casket through which the face of a corpse within the latter may be Serial No. 196,931.

viewed, said opening being covered with a sheet of clear glass 32. i

34 designates a cover which is slidably mounted .indove-tail grooves 86 so that it may be adjusted to the open position disclosed by Figs. 1 and .2, or tov the closed position shown by Fig. 3 for protection of the glass 32. 1

After a corpse has been placed within the casket the compound 26 is spread upon the ribs 10 to form an air and watertight joint when the lid 2O is placed in position upon the hollow body 2. The joint between the hollow body 2 and the lid 20 is further sealed with a suitable composition 38 which is placed in the channels 12 and 28, said composition being preferably in the nature of a powder, which on becoming set, will be as hard as the material from which the casket is formed. Further sealing of the casket is accomplished by pouring pitch or other suitable sealing compound 40 in the upper por tion of the space between the hollow body 2 and the lid 20. Before the casket is placed in the grave the slidable cover 34 is hermetically sealed in closed position so that no moisture or water can seep into the casket.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that we have provided a burial casket which is impervious to water and practically nondestructable when placed in 'the ground, and while we have shown the invention in the form of a casket it is to be understood that it may also be made in the form of a burial vault without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A glass casket consisting of a hollow o body having an offset with vertical and horizontal faces of approximately equal dimensions and extending around in the upper portion of said body, said offset being of rightangular configuration in cross section and having a channel extending around in its vertical face, parallel ribs extending around upon the horizontal face of said oifset, a lid adapted to fit within the oifset and having a vertical margin paralleling the vertical :III en..

face of said offset, said margin having a channel Which registers with the first-mentioned channel when the lid is in place in t-he offset, and parallel grooves extending around in the underside of said lid and adapted to receive the ribs in the offset, said lid and grooves being of such size as to leave an intervening space of uniform and substantial Width between the lid and the faces of the offset for the reception of suitable sealing material.

2. A glass casket consisting of a hollow body open at its upper side, a lid for closing said upper side and provided with an opening` near one end, dovetail grooves in the margins of said opening, a sheet of clear glass covering said opening and arranged below the dovetail grooves, and a cover slidably mount-ed in the dovetail grooves and only slightly larger than the opening in the lid to Cover said opening when the lid is slid to closed position.

In testimony whereofl we aHiX our signatures.

SAMUEL H. VILLIAMS. JOSEPH HENRY YVILLIAMS. 

